The Descendants from Adam to Noah
Introduction: Cain was the firstborn son of Adam, and Abel was Adam's second son, but Cain took action against his brother. From the brief account in Genesis chapter 4, we learn that Yahweh had a way for Cain to follow, but Cain instead purposely killed his brother Abel. Genesis chapter 5 begins to list a new line of descendants through Seth: which allows an estimation of total years from Adam's first year to the end of the Great Flood when Noah and his family came out of the ark.
NOTE: Bible verses are from the World English Bible.
A — The Birth of Seth
Genesis 4 “25 Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth.”
Comments: When Eve gave this son the name Seth she said, “for God has appointed me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” Adam's age is recorded as 130 years when Seth was born. When Seth had a son named Enosh, men began to call on the name of Yahweh.
B — The Lifespan of Adam Continued
Comments: There is no further mention of Cain anywhere in the Old Testament after the close of Genesis chapter 4. The passages beginning in chapter 5 about men through the line of Seth provide some interesting detail. Each man named as the descendant of Adam had other sons and daughters in addition to the one son being traced. Since Adam's age is given as 930 when he died, he lived approximately another 800 years after the birth of Seth.
C — Enoch Did Not See Death
Comments: Enoch, the son of Jared, was taken away from death as Yahweh translated him after he had a son to continue the line of Seth's descendants to the birth of Noah. The above passage twice states very simply that Enoch walked with God. Enoch is recorded in Genesis as the first man to be taken up to be with God without experiencing the death of the body.
D — Noah's Grandfather Methuselah
Comments: Adam died before the translation of Enoch that saved him from death; and Adam's death was even before Noah was born as a man who would be greatly blessed by God. Methuselah holds the record for the oldest age recorded in Scripture at 969 years. His death apparently occurred the same year the flood began.
E — Noah Found Favor
Comments: The phrase “walked with God” was only used in Genesis to describe one other man, and that was Enoch before he was translated. Both men—Enoch and Noah—are thus marked as those who lived in close communion with God during times of widespread wickedness.
F — Completion of the Ark
Comments: Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. Only Noah remained alive, and those who were with him in the ship. The deep water covered the earth for 150 days.
G — The Ark's Inhabitants Replenish the Earth
Comments: Noah's family and all the creatures came out from the ark, and Noah presented the suitable sacrifice before Yahweh. Then Yahweh said he will not again curse the ground for man's sake. This was a promise from Yahweh to withhold a repetition of the destruction by a Great Flood.
Reflections in Prayer
I thank you Yahweh, my Savior, that your mercy endures forever. The two sons of Adam and Eve are primary examples that parents cannot have complete determination of the life pattern for their children. When you, Yahweh, chose Noah with his wife, and his sons and their wives to be safe in the Ark, you had many other plans for mankind which could never be thwarted. I praise my God that I have received salvation to everlasting life by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, the Son of God. Amen.
Published revision 1 July 2019; first edition October 2004